We are very proud to say that we had several ancestors as active combatants in the Civil War. On my father's side the folks all lived in upper East Tennessee and I am almost certain they had Union sympathies, some members furnishing horses and mules for both sides, nothing confirmed only family hearsay, passed down. However, all my cousins on my mom's side from Gaston County, North Carolina, the Clemmer Clan enlisted and fought for the Confederacy. Of the 22 Clemmer members from North Carolina that fought in the Civil War, only about 8 returned or survived. Mom's 1st cousin, 3 generations removed, Joshua Laban Clemmer, was with the 37th North Carolina, Lanes Brigade, Army of N. Virginia. He survived Pickett's charge and almost the entire war only to be captured at Saylor's Creek, Virginia, just 5 days before Lee surrendered. Other Clemmers died in Union prisoner of war camps, or from disease. The family in Gastonia, North Carolina were pioneers and captains of industry (textiles) prior to the Civil War. Following the war they lost everything, all the hundreds of acres of land in Gaston County, their cloth spinning factories, and have never really recovered from backing the losing side.

Gentlemen, Sgt. James Williamson Vaden, Co. C, 11th Texas Cavalry, enlisted May 26th, 1861, Sherman, Tx, 19 years old, had a horse, $50 pistol and a $40 gun (from published genealogy),originated from Gainesville, Tx, "of the 1200 who originally volunteered 100 survived the end of the war".I have an oral history from my grandmother and aunt (he was their grandfather) of how he would sit themon his lap and describe being wounded and wishing he was home. They are both gone, but we have a published genealogy stating 2 other brothers served, they list their deaths at Confederate encampmentsso I assume disease, as no other details are listed, 2 other brothers stayed home too young to serve. I was able to confirm both oral andpublished accounts from a site of the 11th Texas Cavalry reenactors (I think they are near Houston, Tx)whose site lists members, ranks, date of entry, and those that survived where paroled from. Only discrepency I had was where he was wounded, my grandmother and aunt told me Chickamauga, in the arm, and that wasthe moment he missed home the most, the 11th Texas site lists Chatanooga where he was wounded and afterwards went into convalescence. After the war he was sheriff of Sherman, Tx where he was said to patrol the streets with nothing but a shotgun, also noted Jesse James was known to frequent Sherman and the area in his forays, it was saidhe held no grudge against the man and considered him a fellow veteran. He later served as a state representativefor the state of Oklahoma where his picture hangs. I have a picture of him in the genealogy book with his two surviving brothers who were too young to serve, he survived to 1918. There were also stories around the holiday table when I was young how others in the family that sided with the Union were cut off from the family and 2 sides of the family were formed.People often ask me about my strange middle name "Vaden" but I am proud to have it and continued it into 4more American wars (and glad I am retired).

Info I have from a newspaper clipping, my GGGrandfather Daniel Campbell Weir was involved with a U.S. construction division in the Dept. of Mississippi but I have been unable to find any hard records to confirm this. He served under a Capt. William Gordon who after the war married one of Daniels daughters, as a child my dad knew her as his widowed aunt, having married at a very young age she was widowed for most of her life.Of Daniels two brothers, David served in Co B 57th P.V.I. and Robert served in the 111th Ohio, on my father's mother side there were three brothers by the name of Nyman who served in the 145th and 200th P.V.I.

My Great Grandmother was born in 1869, in Maine. She died in 1962 at the age of 92+. Sometime during my teenage years, she told me the story (which went in one ear and out the other) about her fathers involvement in the Civil War. Early in the war, he was wounded, probably at First Bull Run. He was in a hospital in DC. Her mother took a buckboard and traveled down to DC, put her husband into the wagon and returned to Maine.

Some years later, I remembered the story and decided to check things out. I got really into genealogy and have gotten my ancestry back into the 1500's and my wife's back even further.

The Civil War aspect, though has continued to elude me. I have not gotten into it for the past few years, but will soon start digging, again. One of the problems was the manner that people enlisted during the ACW. In the case of Maine and Massachusetts (and I am sure in many areas), if there was no active recruitment in your area, you went to where there was recruitment, so men from rural Maine went down to Massachusetts and joined those regiments.

On a side note, I did find (on my wife's side), that she had at least 2 ancestors in the the ACW. Two brothers, Caleb Noyes Rogers and John Brock Rogers (2nd Lt) were members of the 15th Vermont and participated in the Gettysburg campaign (Companies H and K). Their company was on security duty for the baggage trains for part of the time, but seemed to be in support of Cemetery Hill. They also participated at Spotsylvania. I have found their records in the 15th Vermont. The company commander was James M. Ayer. Their regimental commander was Col Proctor Redfield.

In addition, during the American Revolution, my wife had ancestors on BOTH sides. One, Capt Brigham, led a company of 16 men from Southborough, MA to Lexington (his son and several other relatives were part of this company). He was a veteran on the French and Indian Wars, also. I have found documentation that he submitted to the Continental Congress for reimbursement for expenses, such as payment for using toll crossings. On the other side, Captain Hugh Campbell (from County Ayr, Scotland) fought at Bunker Hill and at some point was awarded a Kings Grant of land in New Brunswick, Canada at Dipper Harbor, which still seems to be in Campbell hands.

Interesting you bring up the American Revolution. My Acadian/Cajun ancestors were Spanish subjects at the time in Louisiana, however are recognized by the Daughters of the Revolution and female descendents eligible for membership. They participated in driving the British out of what I guess was West Florida. Cool beans for people who weren't even Colonials

I also have ancestors (Lucas Collins) who were loyalists and left what is now West Virginia. They were present when Galvez (I think) captured Natchez, and I have transcripts of a letter of appreciation drafted including his and his son's signatures thanking the British Commander for his efforts. They later (by 1781) ended up in what is now Iberia Parish, Louisiana and married into the Cajun lines. My paternal grandmother (now about 95) is a descendant and still has spots of reddish hair.

My father's grandfather Nerlos M Thayer served with the 37th NC. He joined late in 1863 and survived. His brother Kendick Thayer was with the 52nd NC and was killed during the Seven Days Battles. On my mom's side, her great grandfather, Fourney Prevatt was with the 28th NC. He joined in 1862 and also survived dispite being captured at Gettysburg and enduring Elmira prison in NY. Fourney had 3 brothers who also joined. One ran off before any service, another died at Camp Mangum in Raleigh. The third served in the 28th until captured at Spotsavania. He was reunited with Fourney in Elmira. Both survived.

I can claim two great grandfathers on my fathers side. Lt. James W. Whitehead and Lt. Colonel Rawley W. Martin both of the 53rd Virginia, Armistead's Brigade. Both capture after being wounded near the Stone Wall in Pickett's charge. James was with company I which was serving as the color guard. He fell just before the stone wall. Martin was wounded about the same time as Armistead was wounded and was in the same group of seven or eight men who reached the artillery.

Kennon: I wonder if your Grandfather ever asked his Dad about that experience. Perhaps he saw Armistead mortally wounded and certainly he had the vision of that fight that occurred around the guns not to mention the actual charge of the Division. You have some memorable antecedents!

That's the short answer. In researching my family history some years ago I found how profoundly his family and their neighbors. the Brainard family, were affected by the Civil War. I'll post that story soon entitled "A tale of two families- the Gays and Brainards"

My great grandfather (Louis C Nick) was 1st Cpl in Capt Gomez' A Co, (1st co, Orleans Artillery) 23rd La Inf. He was stationed at Ft Livingston onBarataria Bay until New Orleans fell. He was captured making his way to Vicksburg and to my knowledge never served actively again. My mother knew him when she was a little girl. She said he always wore a hat to cover a depression in his head which he said was inflicted by a Yankee rifle butt. She said after the fight, the Yankees said, "Little boys, go home to your mothers." This does not jibe with any history I know. I surmise maybe there was a minor riot during the Union occupation of new Orleans that he might have been injured in. I have a copy of his picture, as well as relatives who fought in the Spanish American War,WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam.

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